Follow-Up: The Power of Follow-Up in Internet Marketing

Follow up on your leads in internet marketing is just as important as following up on them in the offline sales business. Never assume that your customer is sold on your product and doesn’t have another vendor in mind. On the flip side, you also shouldn’t assume that just because they left without buying means they will buy from another vendor. They might be back; you never know. And because you never know, you need follow-up.

Selling and follow-up is all about making the customer like you or your product well enough to purchase from you and not the other guy. If the competition sells the exact same thing you do, then you have to sell them on a reason to buy from you. Maybe you have a 60-day money back guarantee when the other only has one for 30 days. Perhaps you offer them a complimentary tutorial video on how to start using the product if they’re not familiar with the instructions. There are many ways you can distinguish yourself and make the buyer want to purchase a product from you.

But the thing is, you’ll never even get THAT far if you don’t follow-up! The whole objective in going through the above paragraph is to realize that you shouldn’t give up on a follow-up on a prospect even if you think it’s hopeless. It’s NEVER hopeless unless the buyer truly is out of money and does not physically have the means to buy your product. So what if he says it’s too expensive? People buy things that are “too expensive” all the time! But the truth is, they ALWAYS have money for what they really want. You have to make them want it badly enough to get them to buy it from you.

Now to the follow-up. How should you follow-up with a prospect you get online? Chances are that they left their email address on a form somewhere, so your first step is to personally email them and ask if you can answer any questions for them or be of any other assistance. You might also include a video about the product they were interested in, and maybe even throw in a 10% off deal if they buy it from you in the next 24 hours.

Exercise a little salesmanship and get creative with your follow-up. What would make YOU buy your product from your online store instead of someone else’s? Odds are, there’s some money to be saved, incentives to be given or perks to be had, even if it’s the fact that they like the way you write your emails better than the next guy does.

Then once you follow-up, follow-up again! Don’t send one email and let the prospect slide just because they didn’t respond in 24 hours. Keep emailing them, keep giving them deals or add-ons to the purchase – anything to increase your numbers and still make a margin of profit in your sales. Remember, if you play it right, you’ll make a repeat client, not just a one-time customer, and follow up should be your overall goal.

About Sean Donahoe

Sean is one of the most recognized industry leaders in business and marketing. As a popular speaker, author, consultant he has helped over 50,000 students world wide find success in their businesses and has consulted with Fortune 500 companies and businesses of every size grow and thrive...